Revolutions happen when things are improving for most everyone, but not fast enough for anyone.
Civil wars happen when the improvement isn't broad based and leaves a bunch behind, that's kind of why the South got cranky. The Northeast was moving fast into the industrial age, gaining population, et cetera, while the South stayed agrarian/commodity and whatever growth you'd get was based on pricing, plus maybe some productivity increases, but nothing of the sort you get when something truly new hits the market.
That's kind of happening now, and it's happening in demographics that used to be the most content, the most trusting, those most willing to stick with the rules they were taught. We are, too quickly, shifting to an objectively-oligarchic model. Our politics now are purely about money, and we have a news media so desperate for money they will never bite the last hands still feeding them. It's disgusting to me, the billions secretly laundered and washed, yet the mighty "press" can't be bothered to investigate who PAID for all those high-dollar Big Lies.
On the bright side, back in 2009, I ran the numbers on the 22LR part of Obamapanic 1. Something like two billion rounds were bought up in the six months after the election. If you break down who would be buying those rounds, out of the self-identified conservative/independent/liberal blocks, which was like 35/45/20, guess that half of independents stocked up while liberals felt all warm and fuzzy....conservatives bought 32 rounds for every liberal in America. Just in 22 long rifle. And ammo demand plus consumption has been strong all that time since.
I think there's going to come a time when a critical mass of "ordinary Americans" will be facing losing it all, these will be proud people who have done what was expected of them, are decent, moral, honest, and yes, patriots. A lot of them were at the "insurrection" and were not violent, didn't lose themselves in the moment. The way they've been treated and too often mischaracterized is not something they'll forget -- and the more Americans who have that experience, the closer we get to critical mass.
